Obama to invest in ads for Wisconsin

You don't have to be able to read tea leaves to figure out that the Obama campaign is worried about Wisconsin -- a state the president won by 14 points. The campaign is set to buy air time in the Badger state to counter a blitz by the Romney campaign and tightening polls.New York Times:

That is the title of the Badgers fight song at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as one of the official state songs. It also underscores a new dynamic in the presidential race.

President Obama's re-election campaign on Tuesday added Wisconsin to its list of targeted states. The campaign's first television advertisements there are set to begin on Thursday, a sign that the state is more competitive than the Obama campaign had once expected.

Mitt Romney's campaign started its advertisements in Wisconsin earlier this week. Outside groups on both sides have also been advertising in the state.

All of those movements, aides said, led Mr. Obama to start his advertising in a state he won by 14 percentage points four years ago. Democratic presidential candidates have carried the state since 1988, but it was among the most fiercely competitive battlegrounds in 2000 and 2004.

"With Romney up on the air now in addition to his Republican allies, we're not taking anything for granted," said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign.

A Romney win in Wisconsin would be huge. The state's 10 electoral votes would offset a potential loss of Virginia's 13 votes or Colorado's 9. In both states, Romney is currently trailing the president and it is believed he needs both of them to overtake the president in November.

"On Wisconsin," indeed.

You don't have to be able to read tea leaves to figure out that the Obama campaign is worried about Wisconsin -- a state the president won by 14 points. The campaign is set to buy air time in the Badger state to counter a blitz by the Romney campaign and tightening polls.

New York Times:

That is the title of the Badgers fight song at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as one of the official state songs. It also underscores a new dynamic in the presidential race.

President Obama's re-election campaign on Tuesday added Wisconsin to its list of targeted states. The campaign's first television advertisements there are set to begin on Thursday, a sign that the state is more competitive than the Obama campaign had once expected.

Mitt Romney's campaign started its advertisements in Wisconsin earlier this week. Outside groups on both sides have also been advertising in the state.

All of those movements, aides said, led Mr. Obama to start his advertising in a state he won by 14 percentage points four years ago. Democratic presidential candidates have carried the state since 1988, but it was among the most fiercely competitive battlegrounds in 2000 and 2004.

"With Romney up on the air now in addition to his Republican allies, we're not taking anything for granted," said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign.

A Romney win in Wisconsin would be huge. The state's 10 electoral votes would offset a potential loss of Virginia's 13 votes or Colorado's 9. In both states, Romney is currently trailing the president and it is believed he needs both of them to overtake the president in November.